Lullabies
by alltimeotaku
Summary: Driven with grief over the loss of one of their most beloved band members, All Time Low must find a good, down to earth replacement- fast. This is the story about how one man meets Julia... and the rest, well, we'll save that for the Lullabies...
1. Chapter 1

Hey, this is my first ATL fic, and I'm apologizing in advance for what I'm gonna do with this story! You'll hate me for it .!

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own All Time Low or any brand or band I mention in this story**

**Chapter 1- It Will Be For The Last Time And It's Not Right**

Three days. Three days of despair, turmoil, three days of endless pain. Three days of questioning my own life, my purpose for carrying on. Three nights of fitful dreams and raging nightmares, driving me into insomnia. Three nights of thinking too much.

Make this stop

I forced my tired body out of my way-too-small bunk. Yet another restless night. I concluded, by the feel of my head, that last night was the peak of the pain. Denial had started to fade, the plain truth of reality was seeping through like ominous fog. I had to take the truth. He was gone, and nothing I could do would change that.

I peered at my schedule for the day that had been laid next to me. Busy day, filled with tryouts and practices, too soon for any of us. We already had to cancel the rest of the dates on our headliner, and we didn't want to disappoint anyone further. We had to be strong. We had to get a replacement. Our guitarist. My best friend. Jack.

YES I KILLED JACK

**Don't kill me. 3**

**-alltimeotaku**


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter's longer =) ENJOI**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own All Time Low or any brand or band I mention in this story**

**Chapter 2- Don't Let Yourself Get In Over Your Head**

We arrived at the planned location for the first day of tryouts for the next guitarist in All Time Low. As we walked in the front doors, our mouths dropped in awe of where we were. We had only been there months before- The Hammerstein Ballroom, the place we shot Straight to DVD.

Escorted by our security guards, there was something like a judges' panel set up, with one single notepad and a long line of names placed at each of the three spots. I sat down in the middle chair, while Rian and Zack took the ones on either side of me.

I called the first name out.

"Mary Evans."

A twenty-something blonde, dressed from head to toe in pink and holding a purple guitar struts on stage. She gets ready, and then begins to play a butchered version of Weightless. After she finishes the first chorus, I stop her and ask, "Why do you want to be in our band?"

"Well, um, I'm pretty, and talented," she giggles in a high soprano voice, "and you'll get more of a male audience with me, if you know what I mean."

I nod, and quickly thank her. Not my type, AT ALL.

The rest of the day plays out exactly like Mary. Just Wannabees, who only learned guitar to get famous, those who didn't see much more of it than an opportunity, not a lifestyle. No one I saw had very much passion for their music, as far as I could tell. But the truth may just be that I couldn't find Jack in any of them

It was down to the last name on the list.

"Julia Burnes."

An average height, black-haired girl walks on stage, carrying a simple white guitar and a well-worn pick. She takes her place in the center of the stage.

"So," Rian says as he looks down at his own paper, "Julia, how old are you?"

"Twenty-one," She replied, nervously. Just another idolizer, I figured, nothing special.

"Why do you want to play in our band," I ask, robotically.

She clears her throat.

"I want to be part of your family, not because I idolize you, but because I have been inspired by you to take action in my own life. I left home from my mother who wanted me to grow up to be a lawyer and an alcoholic step-dad, who's only goal in life was to physically and verbally abuse me. I started my new life, because of music, wandering the streets of New York, looking for jobs and playing my old acoustic guitar for petty change so I could have my next meal. To some, that would be misery, but to me, it felt exhilarating to finally have nowhere to go, nothing to be but me. And I did all of it because I wanted the band, who inspired me those 5 years ago, to recognize me as a living, breathing, passionate, human being. If I don't become you're new guitarist, I will understand. But it won't make me a different person, because I didn't shape my identity by idolizing you. I shaped myself through my music, and that's what counts." She sighed, like she's gotten something huge off her chest, which, I admit, it seemed like she had.

"Okay. Now, show us what you're made of." I sighed, bracing myself for another Dear Maria or Weightless cover, when I heard…

That familiar, nostalgic intro.

Had that song even been RELEASED?

The first song I ever wrote, the first guitar parts we ever worked on together.

My Paradise.

The lyrics came back to me as she began singing into the microphone.

Before I knew what I was doing, I was singing along with her, our voices a perfect harmony. The lyrics I had written so long ago, bringing back memories of the good times we had, practicing in my parent's basement, covering Blink-182 songs. And before I could stop the flood of memories, I was weeping into my blank notepad, wrinkling the pages. Julia stopped playing and leaned over the edge of the stage.

"Are you okay?" She shouted.

"He's fine," Rian answered for me, and I silently thanked him.

"Thank you, Julia," Zack said, and sent her off.

I calmed myself down and we went to had our notepads into Matt.

Between the doodles, the wrinkles, and the tear marks, on all three of our papers, you could make out one distinct name.

Julia Burnes.

I hope you liked it! This chapter turned out SO different than I originally wrote it XD. I wasn't even planning on introducing Julia yet, and my original one had Alex in the bathroom crying and listening to My Immortal by Evanessence. Talk about depressing…

**-alltimeotaku**


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own All Time Low or any band or brand mentioned in this story.

**ENJOI =)**

Chapter 3- Alone And Far From Home I'll Find You

I woke up feeling refreshed, like I actually wanted to live- a first in a while. It was the first night I hadn't relived the nightmare of the car crash that took Jack, and I wanted to do something today. It was the day that we accepted Julia into our band.

We had decided, after twenty-five tryouts across the country, that she possessed the most determination and passion for music. Not to mention, she was extremely talented, and she claimed to know all of our songs.

Rian, Zack, Matt and I quickly shoved down our breakfast of Cap'n Crunch and un-toasted bagels and hailed a taxi outside our little apartment (no, it wasn't the cash cab…) and sped (as much as you can in New York City) down the street to a little apartment complex located at the heart of Manhattan. Her apartment was on the top floor, so I spun around and said, "I'll race ya!"

Gasping for air, we arrived at her door, and pounded heavily on it.

No answer.

I tried the handle, and, to my surprise, found it unlocked.

What we saw was shocking.

Tables were overturned, food strewn out across the carpet, balcony door wide open. A coffee pot was broken on the floor, the machine lying next to it. The TV was left on, with MTV blaring, the couch cushions were in the wrecked kitchen.

We just stood there.

The Rian moved, frantically looking in closets and cupboards while I took a walk into the destroyed kitchen. Jus as I was about to grab the broom that was leaning against the refrigerator, something caught my eye.

A note, scribbled hastily in sloppy handwriting, taped to the freezer door. It read:

_Hello, boys of All Time Low, if you would like to see your precious guitarist again, I suggest that you follow my instructions very carefully._

_I want 5,000 dollars in cash. If you ever want to see your girlie, alive, that is, bring me this and meet me in central park by midnight tomorrow. But don't expect her to be there. I'm not done with you yet._

_With loathe,_

_J._

_P.S. Call the cops and she gets it._

I stared open-mouthed at the note. Kidnapped. I called everyone over and read the note aloud, my voice shaking. This couldn't be happening.

"What do we do?" Zack screamed in frustration, the first one to speak after I had finished reading the note.

"We have to call the cops!" Matt said as he whipped his cell phone out and began dialing.

Luckily, I was able to stop him and hiss, "Didn't he say he'd kill her if we called the cops?"

"So what do we do?" Rian asked, this time, a solemn expression on his face.

"We meet him," I said, determined. No way was I gonna lose her. "With 5,000 dollars."

"So we play his game?" Zack questioned, with a wary look.

"What other choice do we have? I'm not gonna call the cops and have her die, I'd rather just play his little game and get her back, safely."

"How do we know if _we're _going to get back safely?" We all turned to look at Matt, questions in our eyes. "He could have a gun and simply shoot us from behind. We'd be dead in instants."

"Not if we have something he wants in return!" Rian called from the kitchen, and stepped into the wrecked living area, holding a black wallet, stuffed to the brim with (probably stolen) dollar bills. Inside, when Rian showed us, was the man's credit cards and a picture of a little girl.

We had work to do.


End file.
